Wednesday, 5 April 2017

The Best Birth for You and Your Baby

A friend challenged me to write about something to do
with childbirth, which got me thinking...

What do women want to know about childbirth?

I know there's a wealth of information at our fingertips. We can Google almost anything these days or ask others for their opinion on
Facebook groups. But does that give us the tools to make informed decisions?

I belong to a local mums Facebook group and recently a
mother asked for people's input on the pros and cons on having an elective
Caesarian for a second baby. She had an emergency Caesarian the last time, due to "failure to progress". When I read some of the posts, it seemed to me
that she then had a deluge of other women's horror stories. Not a lot of help
to enable her to make an informed choice.

I know that it can be therapeutic to talk about one's own
childbirth experience. I also know that it doesn't help pregnant women to
feel scared about the journey they are now on.

What are my thoughts and suggestions?

First, trust your own instincts. You will always want
to do what is best for your baby.

Second, if it's a technical question ask your midwife or
birth education teacher. They have an abundance of knowledge and experience and
will be able to advise and support you.

Third, I would like to let all of you, who don't already
know, about AIMS - The Association for Improvements in Maternity Services. They
are a charity who review research about childbirth so that we can find out the
safest ways to give birth. They publish easy to read booklets, which are also
available as ebooks if needed in a hurry! So, if you want to make an informed
decision about birthing your baby, have a look at their website.

Wishing you the best birth for you and your baby.

Gabrielle x

--Gabrielle Nicholls is an experience hypnotherapist and hypnobirthing instructor, as well as a former midwife. She has attended many births and seen first-hand how being calm and in control can help the birthing process. Gabrielle runs her ZenBirth Hypnobirthing practice in West Kent and South London, where she also has an established hypnotherapy practice, Sevenoaks Hypnotherapy.